"Why does the invisible world not warn us beforehand of the trials we will have to go through? The answer is that when we have to confront an unforeseen situation, we are forced to go deeper into ourselves and to make greater efforts.

During the initiations in ancient times, those who had to pass through fire, for example, actually jumped over an artificial blaze, but they didnít realize and thought it was real. If they were afraid and shrank back, it meant they were not worthy of the initiation, and they were sent away. But those who were bold, daring, full of faith, passed through the fire and then discovered it was merely an illusion. In a way you could say that many of lifeís tests are more imaginary than real. At the time, when we have to go through them, we think, ĎThis is ghastly; Iím going to suffer horribly.í But if we are able to experience them in the right way, we are made to recognize that it wasnít so bad."